R gunn



Oct. 25, 1960 p, GUNN 2,957,624

BIDIRBCTIONAL SELECTION SLIDE FOR CALCULATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1954 EII5 1 76 3 iiil IIII :E'IE 5 |4 L I8 United States Patent BIDIRECTIONAL SELECTION SLIDE FOR CALCULATING MACHINE Philip R. Gunn, Oakland, Calif., assignor to Friden, Inc., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 30, 1954, Ser. No. 452,942

4 Claims. (Cl. 235-73) This invention relates to the selection mechanism of a calculating machine, and more particularly to the selection bars of a calculating machine having a Thomas-type actuating mechanism, such as is shown in Patent No. 2,229,- 889, granted January 28, 1941, to Carl M. F. Friden.

In previous calculating machines of this character, as shown in Patent No. 2,229,889, the machine has a full keyboard including ordinally arranged rows of keys extending longitudinally of the machine ordinarily eight or ten such ordinal rows being provided, with digit keys in each row progressing from 1 to 9 from the front end to the rear end of the row. Each key has a stem slidably mounted in, and extending below, a suitable keyboard frame. Key-operated selection slides are disposed below the keyboard and extend to the actuation mechanism to condition the actuation mechanism to enter values corresponding to the digit numbers of depressed keyboard keys into the corresponding orders of the register of the machine. The selection slides extend longitudinally of the machine along the corresponding key rows and are longitudinally movable by the keys of the corresponding rows. In many commercial machines, the slides are arranged in pairs, with one slide of each pair disposed at one side of the lower ends of the key stems of the corresponding row and actuated by the 1 to 5 keys, and the other slide of the same pair extending along the other side of the rows of key stems and actuated by the 6 to 9 keys of the key row. Both of the slides are movable in the same direction by the keys and returned in the opposite direction by individual return springs. Each selection slide is connected to a selection gear slidably mounted on the register driving square shaft of the same order. Each selection slide is pivotally supported on two supporting links and is resiliently urged in a direction rearwardly of the machine by its individual return spring. Each order thus requires two slides, two return springs, four supporting links and two selection gears. It is conceived that the selection mechanism could be greatly simplified and more economically constructed if a single selection slide, selection gear and return spring could be used for each key row of the keyboard and a simplified support for the selection slides could be substituted for the pivoted links, or struts, now in use.

It is, therefore, among the objects of the present invention to provide an improved selection mechanism of the character indicated wherein a single selection slide is provided for each ordinal key row of the machine keyboard and extends along a corresponding row of key stems; wherein each selection slide is longitudinally moved in one direction by the 1 to 5 keys of the corresponding key row and in the opposite direction by the 6 to 9 keys and is resiliently urged to a predetermined, centered position; wherein a single selection gear and a single slide return spring is provided for each keyboard order or denomination; wherein all of the selection slides are sup ported on common supporting rods rather than upon individual pairs of pivoted links; and whereby the number ICC of parts of the selection mechanism is reduced to less than one-half of the number of parts presently used, the cost of the selection mechanism is greatly reduced, and the assembly thereof greatly facilitated with no loss of function, efficiency, or effectiveness of the selection mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevational view of a selection slide assembly, illustrative or the invention, with associated portions of the keyboard and actuation mechanism fragmentarily illustrated, the selection slide being shown in centered position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, showng the selection slide positioned for the entry of a 9 into the machine register; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the selection slide positioned for the entry of a 5 into the machine register.

The numeral 18 indicates keyboard key stems arranged in a row extending longitudinally of the keyboard and corresponding to keys numbered from 1 to 9 from the left-hand to the right-hand side of Fig. l of the drawing. The key stems are slidably mounted in a keyboard frame, not illustrated but well known to the art, and are disposed in upright position for substantially vertical movement, i.e., longitudinally of their length. Selection slide actuating pins 11 project perpendicularly, one from each of the key stems 10, near the lower ends of the corresponding key stems. It is understood that there are several rows of digit keys, eight or ten being customary, with the key rows ordinally arranged so that an entry value can be set up in the keyboard by depressing selected keys transversely of the keyboard.

A transverse member 12 of the machine frame is dis posed below, and extends across, the keyboard near the front end of the latter and a transverse frame member 13 is disposed in spaced and parallel relationship to the rear end of the keyboard. Power-driven actuating shafts 15 are journalled at their front ends in the transverse frame member 13 and extend rearwardly from this frame member, these shafts being driven from a common power shaft 14 by suitable miter gear connections 16. A stepped actuating drum 18 is mounted on each shaft 15.

Each actuator drum includes a plurality of sector gears disposed in coaxial, side-by-side relationship and having different numbers of gear teeth from 1 to 9. In the actuating drum 18 illustrated, the single tooth sector is designated at 20, the two-tooth sector at 21, the threetooth sector at 22, the four-tooth sector at 23, the fivetooth sector at 24, the six-tooth sector at 25, the seventooth sector at 26, the eight-tooth sector at 27 and the nine-tooth sector at 28. The drum is longitudinally divided into two separate parts 39 and 31 with the front part 30 containing the five-tooth to one-tooth sectors and the rear part 31 containing the six-tooth to nine-tooth sectors, the front and rear portions being separated by an annular recess 32 having a width slightly greater than the thickness of a cooperating selection gear, presently to be described. It will be noted that the one-tooth sector 20 in the front portion 30 of the actuating drum is nearest the annular recess 32 and the two to five-tooth sectors are successively disposed forwardly of the one-tooth sector, while the six-tooth sector 25 of the rearward part 31 is disposed nearest the annular recess and the seven to nine-tooth sectors are successively disposed rearwardly of the six-tooth sector.

Square shafts 34 are disposed adjacent to the actuating drums 18 and parallel to the actuating shafts 15, there being one square shaft 34 for each row of digit keys. It

is necessary to provide only approximately one-half as many actuating shafts as square shafts, with each actuating shaft located between two adjacent square shafts and carrying either a single actuating drum for operating both of the associated square shafts, or two actuating drums, one for each of the associated square shafts, as may be desired.

A single selection slide 35 extends along the lower ends of each row of key stems below the slide actuating pins 11. Each slide is in the form of a flat bar disposed with a fiat side thereof adjacent the key stems and guided at its front and rear ends in notches provided in the upper edges of the transverse frame members 12 and 13. Each slide is provided with longitudinally extending slots 36 and 37, disposed one near the front frame member 12 and one near the rear frame member 13. A supporting rod 38 extends through the slots 36 of all the selection slides and is secured at its ends to the machine frame while a corresponding supporting rod 39 extends through all of the slots 37 and is also secured at its ends to the machine frame. The supporting rods 38 and 39 support the selection slides 35 for longitudinal, i.e., horizontal, movements substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal movements of the key stems 10. Each selection slide is provided with a rearward extension 40 extending rearwardly of the rear frame plate 13 and terminating in a depending yoke 41 which engages in an annular groove in the hub 42 of a selection gear 43 mounted on the square 'shaft 34 of the same order as the selection slide 35 and the row of the keys which actuate this slide. The selection gear 43 normally has ten gear teeth and the corresponding register driving shaft 34 will be rotated a number of angular increments corresponding to the number of teeth on the sector'of the corresponding actuating drum 18 with which the selection gear is in mesh at the time the actuating shaft 15 is rotated.

Each selection slide 35 is provided on its upper edge with a series of spaced-apart notches, as indicated from 45 to 52, inclusive, and is provided at the forward sides of the notches 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 with upwardly and forwardly inclined cam edges 54, 55, 56, 57 and 58 with which the pins 11 on the stems of the 1 to keys of the corresponding key row respectively cooperate to impart forward movements to the slide 35 when these keys are depressed. It will be noted that the inclination of the cam edges is gradually flattened from the front edge 54 to the rear edge 58 of this group, so that the 'slide will be moved forwardly a progressively greater distance as the keys from 1 to 5 are successively depressed, and that these cam edges face toward the rear end of the slide.

The notches 49, 50, 51 and 52 are provided with cam edges 59, 60, 61 and 62 with which the pins 11 of the 6 to 9 keys of the corresponding row respectively cooperate. These cam edges face toward the front end of the slide and are gradually flattened in inclination from the front edge 59 of this group to the rear edge 62, so that the slide will be moved rearwardly an increasing amount as the keys from 6 to 9 are successively depressed.

It will be noted that the operative cam faces 54 to 58 for the 1 to 5 keys face in one direction and the cam faces 59 to 62 for the 6 to 9 keys face in the opposite direction. In the form shown in the drawings the former group faces rearwardly while the latter group faces forwardly. However, it will be realized by those familiar with the art that these specific directions are not important. What is important is that the two groups face in opposite directions, so that operation of the keys of one group moves the selection gear 43 from its medial, inoperative, position to engage one set of gear sectors 2% to 24, or 25 to 28, respectively; and operation of the keys of the other group moves the selection gear to engage the other gear sectors. It will also be recognized that a single notch could separate the cam face 58 for the "5 key from the cam face 59 of the "6 key. However, it is preferred to have separate notches for'the two faces as indicated by the reference characters 49 and 49' in Fig. 2, separated by a central land 49", as shown in these figures. The preferred construction perrnits the spacing of the key stems in the row and the angular inclinations of the various cam faces to be maintained as they are currently in the Friden calculating machine with which the present invention is preferably associated.

Each slide 35 carries an individual centering device including a pair of opposed L-shaped jaws, as indicated at 63 and 64, having the longer arms, as indicated at 65 and 66 thereof, extending along the side of the slide 35 remote from the key stems 10 and near the bottom edge of the slide. The arm 65 is provided with slots 67 and 63 extending longitudinally of the arm 65 and spaced apart longitudinally of this arm through which rivets 70 and 71, respectively, extend to secure the jaw member 63 to the slide 35 for limited sliding movement of the jaw member longitudinally of the slide. The arm 66 of the jaw member 64 is provided with similar slots 72 and 73 receiving rivets 74 and 75, respectively, which secure the jaw member 64 to the slide 35 for limited sliding movement of this jaw member longitudinally of the slide. The shorter arms of the jaw members project below the bottom edge of the slide and are disposed at respectively opposite sides of a stop bar 76 which extends transversely of all of the slides '35 adjacent the midlength locations of the bottom edges of the slides. A tension spring 78 is connected between the adjacent ends of the jaw members 63 and 64 on each slide to resiliently urge the jaw members together and against the stop bar 76. The centering mechanism thus acts to resiliently urge the slide 35 to a centered, or predetermined, home position when all of the associated key stems 10 are raised and from which home position the slide is differentially moved by depression of selected keys.

When no key in the corresponding key row is depressed and the slide is consequently in its centered, or predetermined, home position, the corresponding selection gear 43 is disposed in the medial annular recess 32 in the associated actuating drum 18, as shown in Fig. 1. It is obvious that this selection gear and the corresponding register driving shaft 34 is not rotated if all of the keys in the corresponding key row are up, or in their normally raised position, when the machine performs an operating cycle. If one of the keys in the 6 to 9 group is depressed, for example the 9 key, as shown in Fig. 2, the slide is moved rearwardly to its maximum extent, and the selection gear 43 is correspondingly moved rearwardly until it meshes with the nine-tooth sector '28 of the corresponding actuating drum 18. If the machine is now given an operative cycle, during the consequent rotation of the actuating shaft 15, the register driving shaft 34 will be given nine angular increments or steps of rotation and will enter the 9 in the corresponding order of the machine register in a manner well known to the art. If the 6, 7 or 8 key is depressed, the slide 35 will be moved rearwardly a corresponding differential amount to mesh the selection gear 43 with the six-tooth sector 25, the seven-tooth sector 26, or the eight-tooth sector 27, "as the case may be, to impart the corresponding number of angular increments, or rotational steps, to the register driving shaft 34 when the actuating shaft 15 is rotated. When the key is released, at the end of the digitation cycle, as is well known, the spring 78 will immediately return the slide to its centered, or home, position, which position is definitely determined by engagement of the shorter arms of both of the jaw members 63 and 64 with the stop rod 76.

If one of the keys of the 1 to 5 group is depressed, for example, the 5 key, as shown in Fig. 3, the slide 35 will be moved its maximum distance forwardly, moving the selection gear 43 from the recess 32 forwardly to the front end of the portion 30 of the actuating drum 18, whereby the selection gear meshes with the five-tooth sector 24 of the actuating drum 18. Similarly, if any one of the 4, 3, 2 or 1 keys is depressed, the selection gear will be moved forwardly a corresponding differential amount to mesh with the four-tooth sector 23, the three-tooth sector 22, the two-tooth sector 21, or the onetooth sector 20. Subsequent machine operation will impart a corresponding number of angular increments, or rotational steps, to the register driving shaft 34, and enter a number in the same order of the machine register corresponding to the number of the depressed key. a

With the above-described arrangement, by moving the selection slide in both longitudinal directions rather than in a single direction and by having it centered at a location at which the selection gear 43 is disposed intermediate the length of the associated actuating drum 18, accurate and efiicient positioning of the selection gear is obtained with a single selection slide for each row of keyboard digit keys. This construction enables one to avoid using nine different angular inclinations for the V-notches, with a correspondingly heavy touc on the 9 key, thus permitting the light key touch on the various keys which had heretofore been possible only with two selection slides. Further, this construction decreases the number of selection slides to one-half over the numher now in use, and also requires only one-half as many selection gears and return springs. Furthermore, by using the supporting rods 38 and 39 to support the slides for longitudinal movement, the two supporting rods take the place of the four pivoted links for each key row, thus reducing the number of pants required for a ten-row keyboard from 40" to 2.

It will be understood that, while a particular arrangement has been illustrated and hereinabove described, various changes and modifications may be resorted to without exceeding the scope of the invention. For example, the two groups of cam edges 54 to 58 and 59 to 62 may face in either direction so long as they face in respectively opposite directions as between the two groups. The slide may be moved in either direction by each group of keys as long as the keys of one group move it in one direction, and the keys of the other group move it in the opposite direction, and the toothed sectors of the actuating drums may be appropriately arranged.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A selection mechanism for a calculating machine having an actuating shaft, a stepped actuating drum on said actuating shaft, a register driving shaft disposed adjacent to said actuating drum and substantially parallel to said actuating shaft, and a value indexing mechanism including a row of digit key stems, each having a perpendicularly projecting pin near one end thereof, the combination comprising a single selection gear slidably mounted on said register driving shaft and diiferentially movable along said actuating drum, a single selection bar extending along said row of key stems and connected to said selection gear, means supporting said selection bar for longitudinal movement in both directions, and means resiliently urging said selection bar to a centered position intermediate the limits of its range of =longitudinal movements, said selection bar having one series of cam edges of progressively increasing inclination facing toward one end of the bar and a complementary series of cam edges of progressively increasing inclination facing toward the other end of the bar, both series of cam edges being engageable by said key stem carried pins and effective to impart to said selection bar longitudinal movements of different extents, some in one and some in the other direction of longitudinal movement of said slide.

2. In a calculating machine selection mechanism including ordinal rows of selection keys each with a longitudinally movable key stem, a register drive shaft for eachkey row, actuator shafts parallel to said register drive shafts, stepped actuator drums on said actuator shafts, selection gears slidably mounted on said register drive shafts against rotation relative to the corresponding drive shafts for drivingly connecting said actuator drums to said register drive shafts, and a single selection slide extending along each key row for differential setting by said key stems and connected to said selection gears for differentially setting the coordinal selection gears relative to the corresponding actuator drums, the arrangement wherein each actuator drum is divided into two separated, longitudinally spaced parts on the corresponding actuator shaft, each selection gear has its 0 position between the two parts of the corresponding actuator drum, and the single selection slide for each key row has on its upper edge spaced notches for providing inclined cam edges engaged by the key stems to impart longitudinal movements of differential magnitude to the selection slide, the cam edges between one end of the selection slide and a location intermediate the length thereof facing in one direction to move the coordinal selection gear relative to one part of the corresponding actuator drum and the cam edges between the other end of the selection slide and said location intermediate the length of said slide facing in the opposite direction to move the coordinal selection gear relative to the other part of the corresponding actuator drum.

3. In a calculating machine selection mechanism including ordinal rows of selection keys each with a longitudinally movable key stem, a register drive shaft for each key row, actuator shafts parallel to said register drive shafts, stepped actuator drums on said actuator shafts, a selection gear slidably mounted on each of said register drive shafts against rotation relative to the corresponding drive shafts for drivingly connecting said actuator drums to said register drive shafts, and a single selection slide extending along each key row for differential setting by said key stems and connected to said selection gears for differentially setting the coordinal selection gears relative to the corresponding actuator drums, the arrangement wherein each actuator drum is divided into two separated, longitudinally spaced parts on the corresponding actuator shaft, one part having stepped teeth from 1 to 5 and the other part having stepped teeth from 6 to 9, inclusive, each selection gear has its 0 position between the two parts of the corresponding actuator drum, the selection slide extending along each key row has in its upper edge one series of spaced notches providing five differentially inclined cam edges between one end of the selection slide and "a location intermediate the length thereof facing in the direction to move the co ordinal selection gear relative to said one part of the corresponding actuator drum, and a second series of spaced notches providing four differentially inclined cam edges between the other end of the selection slide and said location intermediate the length thereof facing in the opposite direction to move the coordinal selection gear relative to the other part of the corresponding actuator drum, and each selection slide is provided with a resilient centering means adapted to urge the slide to the position in which the associated selection gear is in its 0 position between the two parts of .the corresponding actuator drum.

4. In a calculating machine selection mechanism including a row of longitudinally movable key stems, a pin projecting perpendicularly from a lower portion of each of said key stems, an actuating shaft, a stepped actuating drum mounted on said actuating shaft, a driven shaftdisposed adjacent and substantially parallel to said actuating shaft, av single selection bar extending along said row of key stems and having in one edge thereof cam notches of differential inclinations adapted to be engaged by thecorresponding pins in said key stems for differentially moving said bar in accordance with the value of the keyboard key operated, and a single selection gear slidably mounted on said driven shaft and movable by said selection bar from a neutral position to a value position in opposition to one of the steps of the actuating drum, thearrangement wherein the notches between one end and a location intermediate the length of the bar:

face toward one end and have progressive inclinations corresponding to one to five diflerential steps, and the notches between said location intermediate the length of the bar and said other end thereof face toward the other end of said bar and have progressive inclinations corresponding to one to four difierential steps, means supportingsaid bar for longitudinal movement, centering means connected to said bar and resiliently urging said bar to a centered position, and, wherein said actuating drum, is,

divided into two separate longitudinal parts, the steps of one of said parts progressing in one longitudinal direction and the steps of the other of said parts progressing in the opposite direction.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Mar. 31, 1924 

